Not Building the Sigma Chi Fraternity House

Since the properties along Bearkat Boulevard east of Sycamore Avenue are not owned by the university, they're not buildings of SHSU and this site doesn't document a lot of what happens out that way.  We have, however, been interested in the rise of the fraternity houses springing up out that way in the last decade and a half.

The Theta Chi house was built first, in 2001, and was eventually followed by the Delta Tau Delta house in 2014.  Last we knew, two or three other fraternities had either expressed an interest in owning land or actually did own land - such as Sigma Chi.  In 2011 word got around to us that they were planning a house on Bearkat Boulevard, too.

Apparently the house is dead, as we discovered in some news from the Epsilon Psi chapter's website from May 31:

Several years ago, there was an effort to build a new house near the Sam Houston Campus. Two things caused the House Corporation to rethink that. One was cost. It was determined that to build such a house would be an unacceptable risk because of the expense and a survey of other chapters with new, large dedicated houses indicated they were having difficulty maintaining their house or even making payments.  The second was that the active chapter liked the current location and felt the privacy it afforded was a plus.  So, a decision was made to pay off and keep the existing property and upgrade the existing house to provide space for seven individuals and perhaps later expand.

The House Corp elected to sell the property in Huntsville next to the campus. We were paying taxes and it was a potential liability as unoccupied land. Currently, it is under contract and will provide us with more that $30,000 to meet terms of the loan...as well as provide a cushion in the bank. Once the cash flow returns through the contributions of the active members and we re-establish fund raising activities, the House Corp anticipates a healthy cash flow to preserve the house and maintain the property.